“If thou can believe, all things are possible to him that believes” (Mark 9:23).
Never underestimate the power of faith! What you believe determines what you receive, so make sure you are thinking and believing correctly.
Mark 9:14-29, tells the account of a deeply distressed father who learned the power of faith first-hand on the day he came to Jesus with his son, who was severely demon-possessed. This boy wasn’t just demonically affected — he was being violently attacked by demon spirits that had repeatedly tried to kill him by throwing him into both fire and water. As far as the father was concerned, this situation was irreversible and impossible to cure. So in desperation, he brought his son to Jesus’ disciples, but they were unable to help the man. After repeated, unsuccessful attempts to cast the demons out of this child, the disciples finally brought the boy to Jesus to see if He could cast them out.
In New Testament times, demon possession was considered to be the most impossible malady to cure. People, including religious leaders, were so powerless in the presence of demons that demon-possessed individuals were often chained up and left in remote conditions. A famous example of this in scripture is the demoniac who was kept in the remote region of Gadara (see Mark 5:1-20).
However, when this father in Mark 9:23 brought his severely tormented child to Jesus, he didn’t see his son’s condition as an impossible situation at all — because he believed Jesus had power over those demons. Jesus responded to this man’s faith and said, “…If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23). Because the father believed, Jesus cast the demons out of his son and returned the boy to his father as a normal child.
That day Jesus taught this principle: If one can simply believe, anything is possible — even setting a possessed person free from demon spirits. Wherever faith is present, the impossible is doable.
This verse always makes me think of all the times people have presented me with seemingly impossible odds and said, “Doug, no one has ever been able to do what you’re attempting to do. We know several who tried to do it in the past, but they failed and ended up in a mess. So be careful because it is unlikely that you’ll be able to achieve such a huge undertaking.”
Over the years, that kind of gloomy, pessimistic prediction has been made to me more times than I can count. I remember an incident where I got a distressed call from a friend in United Kingdom informing me that their mother had collapsed and had been admitted at a private hospital in Harare. I rushed there and met two of their siblings at the hospital. The mother was already in an emergency room being observed by the doctors. One of the doctors came and met us at the reception. He then told us that he was giving my friend’s mother at most two days to live because her situation was beyond redemption.
I then requested the doctor to allow me to go and pray for my friend’s mother. The doctor dismissively agreed. I could tell from his body language that he was saying in his heart that “You are just wasting your time”. I went to pray for her. This woman who had been given two days at most, more than five years later is still alive. Glory to God!
I can share several testimonies where I have seen God doing the impossible. I have had a friend’s wife being healed from leukemia in Brisbane, Australia, after praying for her over the phone.
I have witnessed God healing my brother in law after an accident having bled profusely in his head. The doctors who had lost hope about his case have now said they want to use this incident as a special case study because they “had never experienced anything like that before”.
I want to say it again — “wherever faith is present, the impossible is doable”
When I hear someone say something is impossible, I inwardly laugh, because I personally know that we serve a God who does the impossible! Jesus said, “…If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23). Jesus made it plain — if we will believe, all things will be possible to us.
The word “possible” is the Greek word dunata, and it expresses the idea of ability, power, one who is able and capable, or one who is competent. The word dunata shares the same root with the word dunamis, which is the Greek word for power. This emphatically tells us that there is a power that causes one to become able, capable, or competent for any task. When this explosive power comes on the scene and begins to operate in a person’s life, it doesn’t matter how unfit or unqualified he was before — this power supernaturally energises him and makes him capable for the task set before him.
But who is the type of person who will accomplish impossible feats? Jesus clearly answered that question. He said, “…All things are possible to him that believeth.” The word “believeth” is the Greek word pistis, meaning faith. However, the tense used in this verse pictures a person who is believing. This is not someone who once had an experience of faith in the past; rather, it is a person who is presently believing right now. He didn’t just believe in the past — he is a believer. His faith is actively reaching forward right now to grab hold of what God has promised. His faith is habitually, constantly, consistently, and unwaveringly straining forward to take hold of that desired goal he sees before him.
Faith is the spark that ignites the impossible and causes it to become possible. When a person’s faith is activated, it sets supernatural power in motion that enables that person to do what he normally would never be able to do! This is why Jesus said, “…If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” Once faith has been activated and remains activated, a person becomes enabled and empowered so that he is capable and competent to do whatever it is God has told him to do. That person can even do the impossible.
In God all things are possible. Therefore, it’s up to you and me to get our thinking in line with God’s Word. And as we build up our faith to the level it needs to be for the new challenge, we experience an explosion of supernatural power in us that literally carries us over into the realm where impossible things become possible.
Jesus made it very clear that we receive exactly what we believe. If I believe I can do the impossible, I will do it. But if I believe I cannot do the impossible, I will not do it. When I look at those who have warned me about all the things they thought couldn’t be done, most of those people have done nothing. Because we dared to believe, today we are standing in the middle of many accomplished “impossible” assignments that others said could never happen. It’s important that one learns “to walk on water” to see the impossible happening- “Wherever faith is, the impossible is doable”.
Until that father in Mark 9 met Jesus, he had probably been surrounded with a group of people who gave him no hope and demonstrated no faith. Apparently even the disciples had a hard time believing that little boy could be set free. But as soon as that father got around Jesus and heard Jesus speaking words of faith, he believed — and as soon as the father believed, it was just a matter of minutes before that son was completely and totally set free. Once faith is activated, it often doesn’t take long for the impossible to become possible.
So today I want to encourage you to believe that all things are possible. Push that doubt and unbelief out of the way — and if you must, find a new group of friends who will get into a position of faith with you. Then release your faith for the impossible to become possible.